Finistere Plants Investment Seed in Ireland With $24M Agtech Fund

Ireland’s top agricultural exports are beef and dairy products, writes Frank Vinluan on Xconomy.com. Arama Kukutai believes that in coming years, Ireland will send the United States and the rest of the world something different: innovative agricultural technologies that help make farms more productive and profitable.

To that end, Kukutai’s venture capital firm, Finistere Ventures, is joining with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to launch a new 20 million euro ($24 million) fund that will invest in emerging agtech startups in Ireland.

Though Finistere splits its operations between San Diego and Palo Alto, CA, the firm has been expanding its reach globally. In addition to deals made in Europe and Israel in recent years, the firm has also created an agtech fund dedicated to Australia and New Zealand, says Kukutai, a partner at the firm.